SALMON-FISHING 



Dr Francis Ward's experiments wliich have been referred to in the last 

 chapter. No satisfactory explanation had ever been offered of the fact 

 that a small fish used as bait becomes more attractive to large fish when 

 it is made to spin in a most unnatural manner. Dr Ward has cleared up 

 the mystery in his volume entitled *• Marvels of Fish Life," which I cordi- 

 ally commend to my brother anglers as a treatise equally entertaining and 

 instructive. From his subaqueous chamber, and by the aid of photo- 

 graphy, he has elucidated the puzzle why so many fish — salmon, herrings, 

 dace, etc., have glittering silvery sides, which, from a human stand- 

 point, seems to render them conspicuous and therefore more liable to 

 attack from predacious enemies. So far is this from being the case, Dr 

 Ward has shown conclusively that the shining panoply is indeed protec- 

 tive, because, so long as the fish retains its normal position, belly down- 

 wards, and illuminated from above, its silvery scales act as a mirror, 

 reflecting the surrounding weeds, water or rocks. Directly it changes 

 its sides from a vertical to a horizontal or slanting position, the mirror 

 reflects the light of the sky and we see the fish flashing in the water. A 

 bleak, therefore, swimming leisurely in the current is but faintly visible; 

 put the same fish on a trace and cause it to spin, and it becomes a 

 sparkling object. 



If I am unable to offer any counsel upon bait-fishing for salmon, neither 

 can I undertake to expound the more graceful art of fly-fishing in such 

 manner as will enable the inexpert to dispense with ocular demonstra- 

 tion by an adept. Reams have been written — ^folios printed — giving minute 

 instructions for executing the various methods by which a salmon-fly 

 may be projected to a satisfactory distance; but never have I been able 

 by perusing them to add one tittle to the modicum of skill acquired by 

 watching others. Only one precept can I think of that is of general and 

 invariable application in casting a salmon-fly, namely, that it must be 

 done from the shoulder and not, as in trout-fishing, from the wrist and 

 fore-arm. Whether the particular action be that of the overhead cast, 

 the underhand cast, the switch or any modification of the Spey cast, 

 the arms must work in an even sweep from the shoulder. The commonest 

 fault in salmon-fishers is casting from the elbows. It is quite possible 

 to get out a fairly long line by that action, but it entails far greater exertion 

 than when the arms sweep freely from the shoulder. Moreover the rod 

 resents it. It is possible to pronounce by the sound alone from which 

 joints in his arms an unseen salmon-fisher is casting. If it is from the 



67 



